A Modeling Shift

In the world of newspapers, few are as influential and prestigious as The New York Times. It is fitting then that the Times' stylish younger sibling, T Magazine, is quite influential in the fashion world. Recently, The New York Times Style published an article that claimed that after nearly ten years of Hedi Slimane's model aesthetic, the fashion world is harping back to models who are more muscular and more mature rather than Mr. Slimane's young, skinny, androgynous aesthetic.

(Ethan James by Shannon Sinclair)
In other words, less like Tomek Szczukiecki, Ethan James, and Marcel Castenmiller and more like David Agbodji, Gabriel Aubry and David Gandy.

V Man's latest issue with actor Josh Brolins was deemed "The Age Issue". In the editorials, we saw a large variety of models from teens like Jordan Coulter (17 years old) to models in their 20s like Clement Chabernaud (21 years old) to older models like Phillip Huang (31 years old) and cover model Josh Brolin (44 years old). The issue, however, all showed models who are (as a whole) more masculine than in previous issues.

So I posed a question to myself, as a blogger whose purpose is to showcase male models (hence, the title), "will future runways, editorials, and campaigns see the demise of some of models like Marcel and see the rise of models who are more muscular and mature like David Agbodji?"
My answer would be: Yes and No. Years ago, at the very height of Hedi Slimane's reign at Dior Homme, journalists could not help but talk about the rise of the androgynous, super skinny models on the runway of Dior Homme and wondered if Hedi Slimane's aesthetic would be the end of Adonis-type models.

It wasn't.

Look at Abercrombie & Fitch. The American clothier has built its entire image on bare chested models (male and female) running around with barely any clothes on. You won't find Ethan James in the pages of their Quarterly. In their newest Quarterly, it featured Danny Schwarz, alongside Arthur Sales and Guy Robison. Hedi Slimane started at Dior Homme in 2000 and left in 2007, during those 7 years, Abercrombie & Fitch's sales revenue rose nearly 200%. In 2000 revenue was $1.237 billion USD and in 2007, it was $3.75 billion USD.Clearly their use of buff, bare chested models did not hurt their sales.

(Danny Schwarz & Guy Robison by 
The increase in Abercrombie's sales during Edie Slimane's time at Dior Homme shows that there is always a demand for more muscular models, within the fashion industry and the general public. During the 2000s, the careers of models like Brad Kroenig (2001), Andres Segura Valencoso (2001), Noah Mills (2003) and Chad White (2005) were launched.

It should also be noted that certain fashion houses have always preferred more muscular models, like Louis Vuitton, DSquared2, Dolce&Gabbana/D&G, Calvin Klein, Michael Kors and Bottega Veneta.

Hedi Slimane did not kill the careers of Adonis-type models. There will always have a place in fashion for them, as well as a place for skinnier, boyish models.